Jean Paré

Jean Paré (pronounced “jeen PAIR-ee”) grew up understanding that the combination of family, friends and home cooking is the best recipe for
a good life. When Jean left home, she took with her a love of cooking, many family recipes and an intriguing desire to read cookbooks as if
they were novels!

When her four children had all reached school age, Jean volunteered to cater the 50th anniversary celebration of the Vermilion School of Agriculture, now Lakeland College, in Alberta. Working from her home, Jean prepared a dinner for more than 1,000 people and from there launched a catering operation that continued for more than 18 years.

As requests for her recipes increased, Jean was often asked, “Why don’t you write a cookbook?” The release of 150 Delicious Squares on April 14, 1981, marked the debut of what would soon turn into one of the world’s most popular cookbook series.

Company’s Coming cookbooks are distributed in Canada, the United States, Australia and other world markets. Bestsellers many times over in English, these cookbooks have also been published in French and Spanish.

Familiar and trusted in home kitchens around the world, Company’s Coming cookbooks are offered in a variety of formats. Highly regarded
as kitchen workbooks, the softcover Original Series, with its lay-flat plastic comb binding, is still a favourite among home cooks. 

Jean Paré’s approach to cooking has always called for quick and easy recipes using everyday ingredients. That view served her well, and the tradition continues in the Practical Gourmet series. 

Jean’s Golden Rule of Cooking is: Never share a recipe you wouldn’t
use yourself. It’s an approach that has worked—millions of times over!